How to Be a Writer by Ruskin Bond
How strongly I recommend this book: 4 / 10
Date read: August 11, 2023
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Thoughts
Ruskin Bond was one of my favorite writers when I was a kid. This was a quick read on his writing process that I finished in a couple of hours.
Favorite Quotes and Chapter Notes
I went through my notes and captured key quotes from all chapters below.
P.S. – Highly recommend Readwise if you want to get the most out of your reading.
Highlights and Notes
Introduction
Sometimes I wonder if I have written too much. One gets into the habit of serving up the same themes over and over again; with a different sauce perhaps, but still the same themes, memories, characters. Writers are often chided for repeating themselves. Artists and musicians are given more latitude. No one criticised Turner for painting so many sunsets at sea, or Gauguin for giving us all those lovely Tahitian women; or Husain, for treating us to so many horses, or Jamini Roy for giving us so many almost identical stylised figures.
The important thing is to keep writing, observing, listening and paying attention to the beauty of words and their arrangement.
Writing, for me, is the simplest and greatest pleasure in the world. Putting a mood or an idea into words is an occupation I truly love. I plan my day so that there is time in it for writing a poem, or a paragraph, or an essay, or part of a story or longer work; not just because writing is my profession, but from a feeling of delight.
My theory of writing is that the conception should be as clear as possible, and that words should flow like a stream of clear water– preferably a mountain stream! You will, of course, encounter boulders, but you will learn to go over them or around them, so that your flow is unimpeded. If your stream gets too sluggish or muddy, it is better to put aside that particular piece of writing. Go to the source, go to the spring, where the water is purest, your thoughts as clear as the mountain air.
I do not write for more than an hour or two in the course of the day. Too long at the desk, and words lose their freshness.
A real physical emotion accompanies the process of writing, and the great writers are those who can channel this emotion into the creation of their best work. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Balzac!
If I talk too freely about a story I am going to write, chances are it will never be written. I have talked it to death.
Of course, there comes a time when almost every author asks himself what his effort and output really amounts to? We expect our work to influence people, to please a great many readers, when in fact its impact is limited. Those who work on a large scale must feel discouraged by the world’s indifference.
As a writer, I have difficulty in doing justice to momentous events, the wars of nations, the politics of power; I am more at ease with the dew of the morning, the sensuous delights of the day, the silent blessings of the night, the joys and sorrows of children, the strivings of ordinary folk, and of course the ridiculous situations in which we sometimes find ourselves.
Chapter 1: Getting Started
- There’s more than one quality required in someone who wants to be a writer. Here are some of them: A love of books. A love of language. A love of life. An observant eye. A good memory. Enthusiasm. Optimism. Persistence.
Chapter 2: Preparation
- Books are essential for the creative mind, and good readers become good writers.
Chapter 3: The Writing
As writers, we should avoid creating stereotypes.
To be a good writer, a successful writer, you must be original.
Find your own style and voice For a young writer an easy, flowing style is best. Vary the length of your sentences, but don’t let them get too long and involved. Study the style of one of the great masters of the short story, Somerset Maugham. He writes very simply, but he has the knack of getting to the heart and mind of his characters, of telling a story, and of carrying you along with him as the narrative progresses.
Chapter 6: Stumbling Blocks
- Every writer must be prepared for some criticism. The greatest of writers haven’t escaped it.